Framework brings quality, agility and standardization in the development of BI apps, with real impact on business strategy
The more progress is made in the data driven project, the more data a company has to analyze and, at the same time, internal users bring more demands to the IT sector, which need to be met with agility. Faced with these emergencies, Leroy Merlin, one of the largest retail chains in Brazil, focused on home improvements, has just taken a new step in its data-driven business project with the implementation of the BI Qlik DevOps methodology, developed by the company IN – Business Intelligence.
Leroy Merlin: data driven company
“In 2018, we chose Qlik as a data visualization platform to bring organized information to our users, an important pillar in our project to become a data driven company. Today, we have a team of 40 people who develop applications within the platform to help our decision makers. But, we feel the need to optimize our agents' routines so that they can make the apps available to the production environment faster. Another relevant aspect is the need to measure day-to-day data practically in real time. Having the data in hand quickly impacts millions of businesses, especially in retail”, explains Antonio Rodrigues, Data Scientist and Squad Leader at Leroy Merlin.
DevOps in Business Intelligence adds value to the business
With the pandemic, the need for agility was even greater to measure the performance of online marketing campaigns, to know which topics people are searching on Google related to Leroy Merlin's business, for example. "These are data that may involve reviewing our digital infrastructure, changing a campaign, making us change the logistics network or negotiating with our suppliers, among other actions. We started researches abroad and in Brazil to find out who could serve us with an app development methodology for the Qlik platform and we discovered, when we talked to UNIMED SEGUROS, that IN, from whom we had purchased the first licenses, had this differential”, highlights Antonio.
With the introduction of the BI Qlik DevOps methodology, created by IN, the app development process is now based on the QDF (Qlik Deployment Framework), which makes managing Qlik deployments easier and more agile, not just for IT, but also aiming at the satisfaction of internal users. "QDF is a set of guidelines and utilities that enable sharing and reuse of resources, organization, structure and standards, providing an efficient and effective deployment, including QlikView and Qlik Sense. QDF's design and documentation is based on knowledge gathered from real-life scenarios, from development processes already in place.”, explains Yuri Nicolett, Analytics Consultant at IN.
BI applications developed and validated within 24 hours
According to Antonio Rodrigues, the Leroy Merlin development team is already adopting and approving this development pattern that adds speed, agility, knowledge transfer, quality in code development, data traceability, significantly reducing the time the team took to meet the demands of users.
“We can develop an app in less than 24 hours, when it used to take days, with everything validated. We make a difference in the business when we reduce complexity. We have a framework that accelerates and leverages the use of the Qlik platform, offering a methodology and standardization for all our developers to follow. By extracting value from this platform, we are fostering new business, maximizing the capture and analysis of information and being more assertive in decision-making, with a major impact on sales results. This methodology has full relevance for Leroy Merlin's business”, completes Antonio.
Code validation robot
The project to implement the BI Qlik DevOps methodology counted on the reinforcement of the hiring by Leroy Merlin of Rafael Attux for the position Qlik Data Architet Lead – the professional was selected as Qlik Luminary 2021/2020, recognition that places him among the 50 best professionals in the ecosystem in the world. "One of the main challenges when I joined Leroy Merlin was organizing the manageable development pipeline, equalizing knowledge among our developers, adding quality, agility and meeting the needs of the business squads. The new development routine was presented to the teams, we pointed out the changes and the benefits. The framework's responsiveness has been excellent.”, he highlighted.
By using QDF, Leroy Merlin has been able to automate the validation of applications using a robot – an RPA (Robotic Process Automation) program that allows you to assess the quality of the app's code, pointing out flaws and improvements, taking on functions that were previously performed by other developers. "The idea is to increasingly increase automatic validations to gain productivity and, in the future, to reach artificial intelligence robots. Leroy Merlin aims to increase the number of Qlik users as part of the project to be a data driven company and this agile methodology allows us to advance in deliveries, adding value to the business”, emphasizes Attux.
All this methodological transformation in BI also contributes to strengthening the strategy omnichannel from Leroy Merlin, which maintains multiple sales channels: website, app, telesales, WhatsApp and stores. "Leroy Merlin in Brazil is a pioneer in the use of this methodology and we are becoming a reference in the use of Qlik Sense as a data visualization platform for other countries in which the company operates”, highlights Antonio Rodrigues, Data Scientist and Squad Leader of Leroy Merlin.
For Roberto Guerra, president of Grupo IN, of which IN – Business Intelligence is a part, he highlights the relevance of the partnership with Leroy Merlin in this DevOps project. "We effectively contribute to our client's development team to increase its deliveries and improve the integration between developers and user teams, accelerating the data driven journey and delivering measurable results for Leroy Merlin", ends.
